Star-Ledger file photoIn a 2005 Star-Ledger file photo, Angel Jimenez, (right) appears in a Middlesex County court. He was convicted of shooting of his former roommate Isidro Bueno in Perth Amboy. His attorney, Richard J. Simon, was reprimanded by the N.J. Supreme Court for suing his client.

TRENTON — The state Supreme Court reprimanded a New Brunswick attorney today for filing suit against a client for unpaid legal fees while still representing the client, who was charged with murder.

The justices used the case of Richard J. Simon, a practicing attorney for more than 30 years, to make clear that "attorneys shall not sue a present or existing client during active representation. Nor shall an attorney seek any remedy against a client which results in a conflict under our (Rules of Professional Conduct)."

Simon’s attorney Joseph Benedict said, "We were a little disappointed in the decision" to reprimand Simon. "Imposing any penalty was unnecessary and inappropriate under this set of circumstances."

Simon was hired in 2005 by the family of Angel Jimenez to defend the Perth Amboy man against murder charges.

The court decision said Simon represented Jimenez from March 2005 through August 2008 and was owed $70,000 in fees, but had been paid only $20,764.

Simon, a solo practitioner, tried to be relieved from representing Jimenez after he discovered that his client’s brother, who was paying him, had lied when he said he planned to refinance his house. Simon said he learned in March 2008 that the brother sold his home for $1 so he could say he had no money. The judge denied Simon’s motion. Simon appealed, but prepared to represent Jimenez at trial, Benedict said. In August 2008, Simon sued Jimenez, his brother and his mother — the names on his retainer contract.

When the trial judge learned about the lawsuit, he removed Simon from the case and sent the issue to the Office of Attorney Ethics for investigation.